The Snail's Trail

our friends

2000-09-15T01:04:00.069-04:00

Our Year in Review

2009-12-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

The Snail's Trail is almost a year old! Here is our year in review featuring some of our favorite posts. Thank you for joining us this year. We have made so many new friends, have felt a lot of support within the homeschooling community, and have had fun sharing our lives with you. This year really did go by fast!

My first blog post, No Child Left Inside, was written in January of 2009. On February 13, I moved The Snail's Trail over to Blogger and this is how the year unfolded...

We sort money.

We paint.

I talk about meaningful writing.

Little Snail gets a first hair cut.

We share some field trips.

We write environmental print.

We learn some math.

Little Snail swallows a penny.

We practice non-standard measurement.

We learn about spring.

We learn math through cooking together.

I talk about meaningful writing.

We manipulate words.

I make some curtains.

We celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday.

I showed you our classroom.

I showed you how I reupholstered a hope chest.

I talk about dictation.

We visit with nature.

We made yo-yo paintings.

I talk about writing development in unschooling.

We made a dictionary.

We went to the Rock & Gem show.

Little Snail works on her fine motor skills.

We make a mask out of felt.

I painted a picture for our Grandmother.

We made stilts.

We made a clown wig.

We played T-Ball.

We label our environment.

We learn about the circus. A lot.

We experimented with clay.

We had a spring nature table.

We made a new friend.

We learn to use chopsticks.

I share some favorite memories.

We have some springtime fun.

We make a word family game.

We celebrate Easter.

Big Snail learns to write on his own.

We sale some caps.

We visit with Grandma & Papa Snail.

We played with clay.

I upcycled.

Big Snail uses technology to give an oral presentation.

Little Snail paints like a cat.

Big Snail gets a new friend.

We met The Dairy Family.

We made a new friend.

You share your bloggy love with me and pass along some awards.

I share an idea for copywork.

I share a way to learn how to write letters.

We do a science experiment.

I share how I occupy the kids during road trips.

We made a Mother's Day brooch.

I made beer bread.

We share some nature discoveries.

We learn about how the earth was made.

I show you are now non-existent work box system.

I teach you how to create art with toilet paper.

I paint a picture for Little Snail.

I quit smoking (since I was 14) and redecorated the playroom.

This handmade game made The Snail's Trail famous.

We made an alphabet game.

We made file folder games.

We made butterfly math counthers.

I share a great, easy to make, cheap birthday present idea.

I share some homemade goodness.

We begin learning with Little Man in the Map.

We have a princess party.

We have a staycation.

Some of you realize I can be a bit OCD and neurotic.

I share our favorite family moments.

I share several activities for learning how to recognize states on a map.

I share our word family games.

We learn about the States.

We were traumatized at the 4th of July party.

Our readers share back to school traditions.

Little Snail perforates her ear drum.

We visit the bird sanctuary.

I made a pony apron.

We have a staycation.

Little Snail learns to draw.

School started.

I shared an entire week of school work.

Aunt Snail takes us to the museum where she works.

We went to the beach.

Little Snail learns with The Napping House unit from Itty Bitty Curriculum.

I share my home management binder.

I talk about inventive play.

I talk about living science and learning in the moment.

We learn about living and non-living.

We visit the park.

We take a field trip to the landfill when we learn with Little Snail's Itty Bitty Curriculum.

We visit the zoo.

We visit the Children's Museum.

20 of you agreed that this bothered you.

We do nature study in the backyard.

Little Snail turns on the charm.

Big Snail begins learning to play the piano.

I got a Cricut.

We made handmade paper.

We went to a Sock Hop.

I gave you a peek into my living room.

Handmade Halloween was born.

Things get a little hairy for Little Snail.

Big Snail loves soccer.

We dress up as jellyfish and visit the zoo.

I showed you what is in our nature study kit.

I made these super cute handwriting cards. I love vintage art.

I made some tree identification cards that you can download.

We won some ribbons at the county fair.

I shared with you how we store some art supplies.

We made a Christmas tree with our hands.

I showed you how you can teach your child to read for free.

I show you how to use Google Maps to drive around your neighborhood.

Handmade Holidays was born. Remind me next November to start the 2nd annual Handmade Holidays. I am sure I will forget.

You got to meet my dad.

I shared how I am constantly changing the design of my blog and I just did it again!

Homeschool Techies was born (and is coming in January!)

Big Snail participated in NaNoWriMo.

A worm crawled out of Big Snail's ear.

We got ready for Chistmas.

Little Snail got something stuck in her hair again. I found it funny when I saw all the Zhu Zhu Pets in Wal-Mart with "Keep Away From Hair" stickers on all of them.

I got real with my readers. A lot has changed since that post and when the dust settles, I will share the new changes that are coming for The Snail's Trail.

Choosing a Math Program for Kids

2009-12-30T20:24:00.000-05:00

Choosing a math program, or curriculum, can be a tough decision for homeschoolers. This video has made a huge impact on my choice. You HAVE to watch it. Even if you don't homeschool your kids, you can afterschool them with Singapore Math. I also like MEP, which is used by England and Hungary.

Recent Studies Emphasize the Importance of Childhood Play | Edutopia

2009-12-30T00:48:00.001-05:00

Recent Studies Emphasize the Importance of Childhood Play | Edutopia

Unsupervised, unstructured play IS the foundation for all learning. It's what makes kids smart and healthy. This article is one of my favorites because it's packed with research.

TOS Crew Review: Kinderbach

2009-12-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

As a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew, we received a 3 month free membership to Kinderbach for review.

Kinderbach is an online, or DVD, piano instruction program. It is designed for preschoolers and reminds me of Blue's Clues (real teacher in a cartoon world). It's cute. We own a piano and Big Snail has been very successful with Piano for Preschoolers, so I used this program with Little Snail. She adores it! I think 3 is the perfect age for this program.

I just sat my computer on top of the piano during the lessons, but you could also use the DVD and have your child sit on the couch with a keyboard.

Check out the free demo. The first two weeks are free! I love this program because it is great for non-readers. I also like that it takes kids step by step and scaffolds their learning as she moves along.

The entire program is 60 weeks long (6 levels that are 10 weeks long). Little Snail completed a lesson a week.

The online program offers to types of payments: $7.99 a month that is billed in a one time annual payment of $95.88 (60% off) or $19.99 monthly subscription (Billed monthly).

You can also purchase the Kinderbach program on DVD. The first level can be purchased for $40.45, and each additional level is $40.45.

We love it and recommend it for little kids. It is the perfect introduction to learning how to read music and how to play the piano. Well worth the money if you are planning to focus on music in your homeschool and have a preschooler in your house.

TOS Homeschool Crew Review: Maestro Classics

2009-12-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

When I took a music class for teachers, we were required to listen to Peter and the Wolf and identify the character and the instrument by listening to the music (this was easy for me, I was a band geek). We also had to narrate what was happening in the story as we listened to the music. Research show that music makes kids smart. Combining music and storytelling, makes kids smarter. It requires them to think on a higher level.

Maestro Classics has tuned into (ha!) this and have created 8 CD's ($16.98 each) that combine music and storytelling. If you are a follower of Charlotte Mason, this is definitely NOT twaddle! You would adore these CD's and your kids will fall in love with the Classics.

We received for review the Tortoise and the Hare.

Since the car dvd player died (Divine intervention?), I popped this into the CD player for a 2 hour trip to Grandma's. It made for a nice quiet ride. The kids enjoyed it and even listened to it twice!

What makes this series special? It features the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The music is stunningly beautiful. The narrator is charming.

I am adding this set to next year's Christmas list. I think this is exactly what we need for bedtime.

To read the reviews of other Crew members, click here.

As a member of The TOS Homeschool Crew, I received this item for free from the vendor. I do not have to return it. The opinion is my own. You may or may not like this product.

Making Today "Make My Kids Laugh" Day

2008-12-15T06:45:00.000-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

All About Mamma Snail & The Great PR Blackout

2009-08-12T21:50:00.007-04:00

As my blog has grown, I have become friends with so many of my readers. I love getting emails from you and I love it when you leave a comment. It has always been weird for me to say that I "met her on the internet" or that "I have internet friends," but it is true. And so many of you are becoming really good friends with me! I want you to know that you can trust me as a blogger and you can trust my opinion.

I will never accept payment for a post. Everything that I post is from myself, and not a company. If I post a review, the product was given to me or I asked for the product. Even though I don't post negative reviews, I share my honest opinion. If I don't like the product, I say so. And if I don't like it, I give suggestions to who might like it. Don't hate me if I said I liked a product and you totally think it's horrible. What works for us might not work for you.

If I *EVER* get paid ads on my blog, it will be listed on "sponsors." Want to sponsor The Snail's Trail? Visit our media kit page.

I have a disclaimer on my blog. It basically says all the "legal" mumbo-jumbo about my product reviews. But the jist of it is that I believe in ethical blogging. For a good read, check out this recent article at CNN: "'Mommy Bloggers Vow to Avoid Ethical Conflicts."

This week is the PR Blackout Challenge. I just found out about it today, so I am going to participate from now until next Wednesday. I encourage everyone to take a look at ethical blogging and visit Blog With Integrity. Blogging has become a job for many of us moms and we need to make sure that through self-regulation, our profession becomes a respected and integral part to the blogging community and to product marketing.

In the spirit of the PR Blackout, and to make sure that my blog doesn't become "transparent," I wanted to write a bit about myself and recent thoughts.

I just got some new awards from some of my friends! Thanks, Jenny, Crunchy and Green, Raising my 4 Sons, and Bobbi (I hope I didn't forget somebody!). You guys rock! And in the spirit of one of the awards, here are 10 things about me that you might not know:

I have a phobia of bridges. My recurring nightmare since childhood involves me riding over a bridge. I think it came about the time I went on visit to see my dad when he was scuba training and we had to cross the long bridge in the Florida Keys. I *HATE* having to drive in Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta. It is my worst nightmare come true.

I am super shy. Super shy. If I see you in church, and I don't speak...it's because I either think you don't know who I am, or it is because I am super afraid to talk to you. I think I come across as snobby, stuck up, or the 'B' word. I'm not. I promise. And I have yet to go to the new homeschool group playdate because I am just so shy! I totally have to get over this! When I speak in a group, or when giving a speech in public, I get super, super red. I can't believe I manged several public speeches to the entire student body of my former university when I was an officer on The Student Government Association.

I love all things preppy....but I love t-shirts and jeans. I think my 90's grunge phase never ended.

I have a Goonies T-shirt that my sister bought me when we were in high school. If it was socially acceptable, I would wear it every day. Instead, I wear it every other day.

I wouldn't put Julia in a pageant but we secretly watch Toddlers and Tiaras. I call it the "princess show." She has even learned the "princess walk." Hey, Aunt Snail...she wants you to teach her how to twirl the baton!

I secretly want a cool hobby. Like kayaking. Or backpacking. Or professional angler. It's kinda what I got my undergraduate degree in. I have no idea what's holding me back. And oh, yeah..I want to learn to play the violin and guitar.

I covet. I covet the Cricut. I covet label makers. I covet sewing machines and embroidery machines. I covet The Pottery Barn furniture. I covet the Electrolux Washers and Dryers. I covet high-end DisneyWorld vacations. I covet JCrew and Ann Taylor. I even make actual wish lists in case I ever fall into a lot of money. There. I had my daily confession and admitance of sins.

I used to be uptight. And then I realized that I can't be so uptight about everything. Seriously, it has made my life so much better! This means that I think I can joke about things like coveting and let my kids watch Spongebob. In the end, the only thing that matters in life is my relationship with my family members. Nothing else matters to me.

I prefer to still wipe my kids bottoms when they go poop because I still have to obsessively check out their poop to make sure they are pooping okay. I think it comes from the time when Big Snail was so severely impacted (which used to happen all the time) and when his doctor gave him an enemia, the only place that the enemia could go was straight back out....juicy poo juice exploded all over him (and me, too)! And in our house, we call it "doo-doo." I told you I wasn't uptight anymore. ;o)

I love being a Cherish Bound consultant. It has helped me be a stay at home mom. I hope to start taking my I Am An Author program to homeschool fairs next year.

Let's Get Together and Meet!

A couple of us in the Georgia/South Carolina area are talking about getting together in Columbia at the Zoo/Children's Museum in the fall. Email me if you want to join us!

Help Me Support Kid Critic: 12 year old Entrepreneur & WIN!

2009-12-10T16:06:00.006-05:00

If you have not heard of 12 year old entrepreneur, the Kid Critic, than you are missing out on knowing one of America's future business leaders and self-made millionares. The Kid Critic reviews products, books, movies, services, activities, and restaurants from a kids point of view.

If you are a teacher, he will inspire you to give your students the freedom to develop their own interests from their own passions. His website is evidence of his profound knowledge, his gifted talent in running his own business, and his incredibly articulate and sparky personality.

If you are a parent, this kid needs to be introduced to your kids. He has taken the idea of the lemonade stand to another level and can inspire your kids to believe that "you are never to young" to start your own business. His successful web-based business is about to embark on its one year anniversary.

Lane Sutton, the Kid Critic, has developed and written The Kid Critic Guide: Holiday 2009 Gift Picks. The Guide, which can be purchased for ONLY $6.99, has a value of $40. In it, he includes his reviews of various products, movies, restaurants, and books. But what gives this little Guide its value? These companies have included valuable deals and coupons within the Guide.

Here is a list of companies that are reviewed in the Guide and have included GREAT coupons and discounts that can be used beyond the holidays:

GoTween
Kubit2me
Flashcards iPhone Application
ABCs of Autism
Up!
Longhorn Steakhouse
Twixie
Kids Write Books (THAT's ME! And I have included a coupon code for 10% off and free shipping)
The Undercover Kids Series: The Trunk in the Attic
That's Bingzy!
And, a special treat from Lane himself when you order your book!

For only $6.99, you can not only support a kid and help him grow his business, you can get some great deals, too! Grab your copy of The Kid Critic Guide: Holiday 2009 Gift Picks today!

Lane has published his own book with my company, Kids Write Books, and has written a review of his experience. You can check out his review here and enter to win a $29 publishing credit so that your kid can publish their own book, just like the Kid Critic.

Your Kid Can Publish Their Own Book for Free: Enter Here!

Support Kid Critic and check him out. It's very refreshing to get a kids point of view.

Kid Critic is giving away a copy of The Kid Critic Guide: Holiday 2009 Gift Picks to one of my readers. To enter just leave a comment in the comment section below and include an email address if it is not in your google profile. For an extra entry, just follow Lane at TWITTER and tweet "RT I just entered in the @kidcriticusa Gift Guide Giveaway sponsored by @kidswritebooks You can enter too at http://bit.ly/8vgUpv." This is open to residents of the contiguous 48 States. Contest ends December 24th at midnight. (Even though this is a 'Holiday Guide', these deals don't expire, and one will expire at the end of the year.)

*To our favorite buddies at the FTC: I purchased The Kid Critic Guide: Holiday 2009 Gift Picks from Lane Sutton and it was not given to me. These opinions are my own and I was not paid to make these comments. I love this guide, recommend my friends purchase it, but I can't guarantee that they will love it too. I am giving away product at his website and also gave him product to review.

THE WINNER WAS RANDOMLY CHOSEN AND IS

Fairion

Congrats!

Posh Artwork for Kids

2009-05-14T14:34:00.004-04:00

Since the grown-ups can participate in We Heart Art Week, I thought I would share a painting I did for Little Snail. I have oohed and ahhed over custom artwork for kids that I had seen at some posh stores. Because we are frugal, I knew I had to make my own if I wanted Little Snail to have her own custom artwork in her room. I painted this in 2007 with a water color set from Michaels. Am I talented enough to do custom artwork for kids and put it on Etsy? What do you think?

"Where's My Purse?" by Momma Snail, 2007

Let's Help Military Families During the Holidays: It's Easy!

2009-12-20T17:30:00.002-05:00

As a former army brat, I'm always happy to give support to military families. I found a cool literacy tool called Ripple Reader that is doing just that. Ripple and Operation Homefront are bringing children and deployed parents together through online books.

Ripple enables soldiers, grandparents and others to read stories online to the special kids in their lives. A child can listen to these recordings over and over again, enjoying the comfort of a familiar voice. Between now and December 31, 2009, Ripple will donate one recording session to Operation Homefront for every purchased or free trial recording made on the Ripple website. 1 recording = 1 gift to military families! How cool is that?

You can try Ripple for free with these three picture books, I Need My Monster, I'm Really Not Tired and The Only One Club. Whether you try it for free or purchase recordings, you will be helping connect military families over the holidays.

Comment below to win 5 free recordings and a microphone. And, the first 10 comments will receive a recording code for any book in the Ripple library. Visit Ripple Reader Today!

I will be doing a review of Ripple Reader in a few days when Little Snail gets over tonsililitis...bless her heart....they are touching each other they are so bad.

Giving 3 Techie Readers a KIDO'Z PLUS Account!

2009-12-03T22:45:00.009-05:00

If you haven't heard me say it yet, I *HEART* KIDO'Z! To me, it is the best thing developed....ever. I am so happy that I literally stumbled upon it one day in Twitterville. It has been a life saver. Before KIDO'Z, my kids did not use the internet except at the public library. And that was only to visit PBSKids and I was watching the entire time. With KIDO'Z, I can let them use the internet while I cook supper, fold laundry...whatever. I trust KIDO'Z so much, that I leave my little kids unnattended at the computer on the internet. Seriously.

Without my direction, guidance, or supervision, my kids have learned on their own how to use a mouse, a keyboard, and navigate the KIDO'Z system. KIDO'Z is so kid friendly, my 3 and 5 year old have figured it all out on their own.

If you don't already know, "The KIDO'Z Kid's Web Environment is the safe, easy and fun way for young kids to surf their favorite sites, watch videos, play games, send emails, create and communicate without knowing how to read and write!"

It's free! And it works with Mac and PC in a variety of languages and completely gives the parent total control over what their kid sees and does while on the computer.

Here's what it looks like in action on my Mac:

Choosing a Website to Visit

Sending and Receiving An Email

Playing in KIDO'Z PLACES

Watching An Approved Movie In YouTube

Visting A Website

Viewing Our Favorite Places

If you haven't downloaded this guaranteed safe program (no viruses, trojans, malware, etc), visit KIDO'Z to give yourself some piece of mind and some freedom to your kids. You both deserve a break. If you use the internet as a reward, you can set a usage time limit so your child only stays on the internet for their alloted time. I love this feature! I also love all the new features in the PLUS account....hangout with pre-selected/approved friends (i.e. Grandmama and Papa, sister, real life friends, etc), send email, and have access to more cool and fun features. The PLUS account also gives parents MORE control and security features.

Now that you've downloaded it, you are ELIGIBLE to join in on this giveaway! KIDO'Z is giving away 3 PLUS accounts to the Snail's Trail Readers! If you win, you will have to supply me with the email address you used to activate KIDO'Z. I will email this information to KIDO'Z and they will upgrade your already exhisting account.

TO ENTER:

leave a comment saying "hey!", "pick me!" "I *HEART* The Snail's Trail!" or whatever your heart desires! That's it. No other crazy stuff like becoming a follower (hey, if you want to, that's nice!) or follow me on twitter (kidswritebooks) and tweeting about my giveaway (hey, that would be nice, too! just type "RT @kidswritebooks @KIDOZ Giving away 3 KIDO'Z Plus accounts! Best kid browser, ever! http://tinyurl.com/snailsgiveaway") or checking out my business, Kids Write Books. Nope. You don't have to do a million things....just leave a comment.

Random.org will pick 3 random winners so no need to brown-nose by adding my button to your site (but hey, give it a try!) on DECEMBER 19th at 12am. I will notify the winners via email and they have 3 days to send me their email they used to activate their KIDO'Z account. If a winner does not reply, they will not get the upgraded account and I will randomly pick someone else from the entries. If you don't leave a way for me to email you (Google profile) or leave it in the comment, then you can't win because I can't email you to tell you that you've won. But I bet you were smart enough to know that without me mentioning it.

Hey, FTC: KIDO'Z and I don't have a relationship and they did not pay for this post, and all comments are my own. I really do love them and I love telling all of my friends that they should love them, too. If they don't love them, then I am not responsible for their crazy decision to not love KIDO'Z. KIDO'Z gave me a free PLUS account to review and they are giving away the PLUS accounts in this giveaway. I get to keep my PLUS account for a year, and I am trying to sweeten up to them so I might get a LIFETIME*YOU*ARE*OUR*FAVORITE*USER account. :o)

Nick Jr, Your Kid, and Porn: And the KIDOZ winners!

2009-12-20T01:15:00.001-05:00

If you have not heard from ABC Good Morning America, your child can access porn and other innappropriate content via nick.com and nickjr.com. Watch this video here to see how it happens.

Here is a campaign to have Nickelodeon remove this accessible content here: Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood.

I honestly *HATE* Nick.com and Nickjr.com because they have advertisements, commercials, and are simply not kid friendly. But when I found out that my kids can easily access Addicting Games, I was disgusted. Nickelodeon's response? They just simply removed a few of the offending games and came up with a lame excuse ("parents you should be monitoring your kids").

So on top of seeing this innappropriate and tasteless event on the Kids Choice Awards, when Dwayne Johnson asked Miley Cyrus if she was wearing a thong on national t.v., and now that they think that Addicting Games is appropriate for children, I am done with you, Nickelodeon! Why can't you just be wholesome all around? Why? Why? Why?

We so love Max & Ruby, Olivia, The Upside Down Show, Little Bill, Toot & Puddle, and Ni Hao, Kai-Lan. Thankfully, I let my kids access these sites/games through KIDO'Z without any worries.

If your kids love to play games at nickjr.com and nick.com, let them do it with through KIDO'Z because with KIDO'Z, kids can't click on ads or other links within websites.

The KIDOZ winners are: (from this contest)

Congrats to :

Kristin

Jessica

and The Brown Bunch

I will be in contact with you, but if you happen to read this before I email you, feel free to email me your email address that you used to activate your KIDOZ account. I will pass the email on to them and they will automatically upgrade you.

This Is What Insomnia Looks Like

2009-12-12T21:28:00.005-05:00

I'm not a sleeper. When I can't sleep, stuff like this happens in the middle of the night...

This is the bathroom (which has this amazing 1940's tub...deep enough to swim in) and it has a built in shelf. It was full of crap tchotkes and random stuff. It really bugged me.

I got the pack of 13 frames for $13 at Wal-Mart and the paint was a free

sample pint from Glidden (Cobalt Blue).

Much better, no?

One day, I am going to replace the original towel holders, and put up wainscoting and paint the walls.

Have you entered my contests?

KIDO'Z Giveaway Ends 12/19
KidCritic Giveaway Ends 12/24

Enter to win my products here:
$29 BookEnds 12/19/08
$29 Book Ends 12/18
Family Chat CardsEnds 1/4/10

Fashion Help!

2005-12-11T16:29:00.000-05:00

This is a secret post for my sister.

I want silver shoes...because I want to be able to wear them again. I don't want open toe or peep toe. I need advice.

No Child Left Inside

2009-02-13T20:49:00.005-05:00

Because of my B.S. in Outdoor Education, and my experience in environmental education, the Snails spend a lot of time outside. I adore the book, Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv and the new initiative, No Child Left Inside. A lot of people ask us, "What do your kids do outside?" Here are some ideas of what we have done...

Unstructured Exploration

Looking under rocks

Collecting Things of Nature

: Pine cones

3. Play in the Mud

: Muddy Feet

4. Make a Big Dirt Hill

: Little Snail is Queen of Her Hill

5. Make a House Out of Bricks

: The Wolf Can't Blow This Down

6. Get Lost in a Field of Flowers

: Freaking Out!

7. Play Good Ole' Fashioned Games Like Chase

: Ready, Set, Go To Market!

8. Plant and Nurture a Garden

: Planting Seeds from the Jack-o-Lantern

More outside activities to come..

My beliefs on Technology and Little Kids

2009-08-30T14:42:00.003-04:00

While I am talking about technology, I thought that I would share with you a belief statement that I wrote while working on my Master's degree.

My Belief Statement on Using Technology with Little Ones

What do I believe?
I believe that pre-k students:

must use technology actively, rather than passively.
must use technology constructively (they need to use it to create things)
should use technology based on their current interests
should use technology that is meaningful to them and produce products through technology that are meaningful to them
should control their own level of difficulty in using technology
should be able to choose what technology they will use and decide on their own how to use it
should have an adult guide and facilitate their use of technology
should use technology that allows them to create and explore
should use technology using their six areas of development: language and literacy, mathematical development, scientific thinking, social studies, physical development and health, and social -emotional development
should use technology with a real purpose

I believe that pre-k teachers should:

Align technology use with their curriculum.
Know how to use all types of technology proficiently and have a genuine interest in using technology in their classroom
Allow students to use technology everyday
Monitor, guide, and facilitate technology use in their classroom
Be aware of current research and best practices for technology use in the classroom
Set up your classroom so that computer use encourages collaboration among students by placing computers next to each other, placing multiple chairs around the computer, and placing the computers in a centralized spot in the classroom
Allow students to take breaks from their use of technology when they want it
Use technology with supporting activities (i.e. manipulatives) and vice versa
Connect their technology use with what they already know and build upon that
Build technology use based on their current interests and needs
Use open-ended software
Encourage exploration, experimentation, problem solving, and creativity
Use technology during work time (a.k.a. “play”) at centers by creating a “technology center” in your classroom
choose technology that will add to their educational experience
Create technology use that is developmentally appropriate and use programs that are developmentally appropriate
Technology use should be focused on open-ended use, rather than focused on creating a teacher directed product
Be less involved in leading activities and more involved in guiding the activities
Should scaffold technology use with students
Respond to children’s use of technology so that it encourages further investigation
Should never use technology that encourages drill and practice, flash cards, or worksheets because this is not effective or appropriate for pre-k students
Should make their own decisions on when and how to use technology with students
Remember that old technology is still technology…don’t throw out your tape recorder

I have developed my beliefs from reading tons and tons of research on the use of technology with young students. That is, my beliefs are research based. Because all of this research has become meshed in my brain, I may have quoted you. If you are reading something that you have said, please let me know so that I can give you credit. A lot of my beliefs were collected from this document.

I want to stress that while letting your kids use technology is important, playing, and playing outside, is more important. Like everything your kids do, they have to have a resonable balance in their life.

TOS Homeschool Crew More Than A Review: All About Spelling

2009-12-01T16:41:00.001-05:00

As members of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, we were given All About Spelling Levels 1 and 2.

We LOVE it! This program is GENIUS and perfect for struggling spellers/readers, dyslexic kids, and kids that need a systematic approach to learning.

All About Spelling is the BEST program that I have ever found that uses the Orton-Gillingham method of spelling instruction.

I recently posted about using some of the All About Spelling products here.

What I like about the program:

Well organized, scripted, and easy to use. It is extrememly fool proof. The author of the program tells exactly how to get the program set up and scripts the program to make it easy for the teacher. Parents don't need special training to use the program.

I love the method of quickly reviewing what we know and spending time on what we need to learn. This system is set up so that I don't have to teach my kids what they already know. This program does not waste valuable learning time.

The program is very systematic and organized and is perfect for kids who need help with organizing their thoughts, their learning behaviors, and their study skills.

I love the tiles. They are strong and glide easy. This is important in manipulating them. The student spells words with the tiles. This takes the complexity and frustration of using a pencil/paper when learning to spell. It makes spelling instruction easier on the child. I love the procedure for using the spelling tiles (see diagram on page 118 of Level 1)...you dictate the word for the child, the child segments the word aloud (breaks apart the sounds in the word), pulls the letters down, reads the word he spelled, and then puts the letters back. We write the words we spell with the tiles, too.

She says on her website that, "The spelling program should not contain time wasters and page fillers. Workbooks filled with activities like crossword puzzles, word searches, and writing the words X number of times do nothing but waste valuable teaching and learning time. " Yea! I agree with this. Those activities are time wasters. They are not teaching your kid anything and are not review. If you want your kid to get practice using "spelling words," they need to use these words authentically in their own writings.

I like that the program is tailored to your child. Your child goes at her own pace.

Some believe that program is great for kids with dyslexia.

Might be great for a classical homeschooler or a homeschooler who follows the Well Trained Mind.

It teaches you, the parent, to not say "uh" at the end of every letter sound. B does not say "buh", it says /b/...without the "uh" (pg. 9, Level 1). I am SO GLAD this is in there! When I taught Pre-K, I had to spend a lot of time reteaching letter sounds to kids because of this.

They teach you to not have your student give a word for each letter sound (a-apple, b-bear, etc) (level 1, pg. 10). Yes! I SO agree with this (ignore what I said above)! I had a student one time who, when reading the letters of the alphabet, would say a word that the letter began with instead of the letter itself, or the sound it made. He read the alphabet like this...apple, bug, cat, dog....I had to spend a year breaking that association.

It begins with pre-testing what sounds your child knows. You don't have to teach the ones your child already knows! It really is customized for my child! It does, however, suggest starting at Level 1 and working your way quickly through it as review if your child already knows the content.

The letter tiles are color coded, great for kids who need the extra cue. But, it doesn't provide tiles without that cue. When my kids advance, I would like vowels that are not colored differently than the consonants.

It guides your child in creating and maintaining their own personally created dictionary of words he knows. This is great because we are already doing this and also use a word wall in our school.

The lessons are very brief (it may be a problem for some, but great for others). Wonderful for people who like Charlotte Mason or Ruth Beechick's style. Or just want to get spelling instruction over with quickly each day. :o)

If you support the Orton-Gillingham method for spelling instruction, I have heard that this is the best program that supports that method. The author is definitely an expert in this method of spelling instruction.

I love this program. I think that this program is so simple, that it is very effective. However, I can't really attest to the effectiveness of the program because we are using a lot of different methods to learn reading, writing, and spelling. In addition to natural and purposeful writing instruction, we are using LeapFrog's Letter Factory to learn letter sounds (phonemes), Rocket Phonics for reading, Sequential Spelling (as part of the TOS Homeschool Review Crew) and All About Spelling for spelling (and they both go against each other)....so using all of these programs may be contributing, or not contributing, to the success, or not success, of our spelling instruction. I can say that Big Snail loves it and loves the direct teacher instruction part of it. The kids think that this program is super fun.

I love the author's blog. She has a lot of articles and advice for homeschooling parents that can be very helpful for spelling, and reading and writing, instruction. She has wonderful customer service, is super sweet, and is always available if you need help with the program.

I like that it has a money back guarantee, even if you use the materials.

Even if you don't want this type of program, buy the letter tiles and magnets. Trust me, they will be put to great use!

{I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. As a member of the Crew, I was given this product to review. I get to keep the product and don't have to return it to the vendor. I was not paid for this post and the opinions in this post are my own. These results are my own and may not be the results you get.}

For more reviews, visit The Homeschool Crew's Reviews.

For My High School Mathy Homeschoolers!

2009-12-01T21:42:00.000-05:00

I hope she gets Teacher of the Year! So cute!

{Have you entered the contest yet?}

Let's Get Real Mommy Bloggers! Are you with me?

2009-12-09T23:17:00.000-05:00

I've liked to live this life where I pretend I live in that world on the Walgreen's commercial...that land of PERFECT. I want a perfect family, perfect kids, perfect homeschool, perfect blog, perfect business, perfect pictures....and I want to let everyone know that our family is perfect and oh, so much better than yours. In fact, I want to go out of my way to make sure that you know that my kids are prettier than yours, are smarter than yours, and would never do anything wrong. Seriously....why do moms do that?

The Snail Family is FAR from perfect, I am a far from perfect mom, and my kids...they are definitely far from perfect.

Moms in the neighborhood are bad at doing this. But Mommy Bloggers? They're worse. And don't lie....it's stressing you out. The "power to perform" by producing top notch content, new content....content that blows everyone out of the water....constantly having to come up with genius ideas...spending days and days on the internet trying to get followers...trying to participate in a blog community when you are in way over your head....camera always around your neck waiting for those perfect blog moments...STOP IT! We've got to stop doing this to ourselves. We've got to get real with each other! Every Mommy Blogger knows what I am talking about. Even the most famous of us all goes through this. Let's stop the pressure to perform, take back our blogs from the corporate world, and start being real with each other. Let's be honest with each other, support each other, and be an encouragement to each other.

I don't want to ever be "that" mom...the one that makes you say, "I wish my house was like hers." Or, "I wish my kids were well behaved like hers." Or, "I wish I could be that organized." Or, "I wish I was as skinny as her." Or, "I wish my homeschool was as great as hers." Because that meant that I made another woman feel bad about herself. And that I made her doubt herself. Or that I made her covet what I had. Could you be "that" mom? I sure couldn't live with myself.

Here are some pics, and stories, taken from the last few years that I would NEVER put on the blog...because they show the real us and we are far from being perfect. This is the stuff that will make my mom say, "You put THAT on the internet?"

When I am stressed out, I play with my iMac Photobooth.

Our old house had an inground pool. This is the only year we used it because it took me 3 months of working on it every day to get it clean and usable. After that, it became a pond.

Little Snail was born a hungry child. She couldn't suck when she was born and this made her quest for food even worse. Her first word was "eat." Seriously....to this day, we have a little problem with her staying in the pantry or fridge. Just this morning I found her under the kitchen table, with an entire box of cereal dumped out on the floor. She is in the 95% for height and weight. She is a giant next to other 3 year olds. Thank goodness she is at 95% because she was "off the charts" for a while.

This was Little Snail's first piece of chicken. If you look to the left of the bone, you can see we finally took it from her because she was literally trying to eat the entire thing!

I love Hillary Clinton but for some reason, I have been ashamed and afraid to admit this publicly. I was raised to not talk politics with friends. She has had a profound impact on free, universal Pre-K and for that, I thanked her on this day. It was fun meeting her. Imagine the pressure she has to be "peppy" all the time.

While not a perfect picture, it captured the phase that Big Snail was in at the time. The literal tree hugger phase. I think some people think my kids are weird. In fact, someone once said, "don't let them hang out with just homeschoolers. Let them be with other kids so that they don't become weird." Heck, we're even weird for choosing to homeschool our kids. I often wonder if that is why people stopped talking to me.

Yeah, my kids are weird. In fact, here he is being a cat. He went through the "I'm a cat" phase for over a year. He only communicated by meow, ate like a cat, and licked himself clean like a cat. That "behavior" still pops up every now and a then, but I had to put a stop to it when he tried to lick me clean IN PUBLIC.

See that thing on her back? Do you recognize it because you have one? It's a kid leash. Yep. And I even got comments like, "stop treating your child like a dog." I wish we had them both on a leash a couple of months ago when they walked away from us in the mall. We lost them for a minute and it was the worst moment in my life. I was hysterical. I seriously want to implant a GPS device under their skin.

We have three computers in our house, up and running...all the time. I call it multitasking. When I complain that someone hasn't emailed me back within minutes, my husband says, "no one else lives on the computer like you do." Umm....I know a ton of moms like me! And one day, our generation will join me with our children because while today's parents "go online"....the "real world" and the "online world" will be completely merged into one big place for the next generation. Our children will live online and it will be their reality. I don't want to get left behind in the great digital divide.

I have been to 5 WWE events. Most of those times, with ring side seats. I even attended one event with a 104 fever and pneumonia. The Hubster used to be a die hard fan but we don't really watch it much anymore. I'm too busy watching The Hills, The City, The Duggars, and Project Runway. If it's reality, I'm watching it. Before I had kids, I said, "we will not be one of "those" families who park their kids in front of a t.v." In fact, I wanted to get rid of it. We now have a t.v. in every room and I have over 100 hours of shows DVR'd. That's OUR reality.

Remember when I posted that Big Snail had no cavities at his first dentist appointment? I never did post about his second appointment when he had 3 cavities....all because I don't floss his teeth. And there you have it. One of my deep dark secrets as a mother. Our nights are so crazy, there is no magical moment in the bathroom where our kids are brushing, flossing, and then merrily hop into their beds. Our nights are so crazy that Daddy Snail proclaims, "No one else lives like this!" And then I replay Nanny911 and Super Nanny episodes so he can see that the rest of the world does, in fact, live like this.

Speaking of....My kids don't really have a bedtime. And we really don't get up early. We have a relaxed lifestyle, a privilege of homeschooling. However, my children get 12-14 hours of sleep, which I believe is crucial to growing little brains. My mom recently told me that "too much sleep" is not good for them. Would anyone like for me to either pull the research on brain development or should I have a guest post by our pediatrician? As a former public school teacher, I can tell you that kids are not getting the required sleep that they need. However, I am always being condemned by outsiders that my kids sleep habits are "bad." Please, community members, stop being shocked that we get up at 10:00 am. Sometimes it's later than that. We have a different schedule than you do because our school doesn't start at 7:45. And, are you ready for this? We co-slept since birth and still co-sleep when our kids need it.

I let my kids dress themselves, and yes...I take them out in public like this.

I believe in raising gender-neutral kids, encouraging all types of play, supporting all of their interests, and never blocking their inhibitions. I would never say, "no you can't put on a dress because that is for girls." If my son wants to be a princess, and my daughter wants to be GI Joe, than I encourage them to be the best princess and best GI Joe that they can be. This is how I was raised...to support and love all people, even if they are different than you. I will not support any sort of bigotry, any sort of discrimination,racism, or sexism, and it makes me sad when I hear someone tell my children "you can't be a dog. You're a boy."

Anyway, here are some truths about me. I just want to send the message that I think moms should band together to stop being mean to each other, to stop proving we are better than each other, and to stop trying to be like other moms because we think their lives are perfect. I'm freeing myself as a blogger, keeping my blog real, and taking off that "pressure to perform."

Are you with me? Do you have something that you'd like to get off your chest? Is there something you've been dying to share with the world but have been afraid to say it? Feel free to unleash these burdens by leaving a comment. (Don't leave me hanging...I'd be super embarrassed to have spilled my guts for nothing.) And if you are a Mommy Blogger, I encourage you to start getting real and add some transparency to your blog. You deserve a breath of fresh air.

Privacy, finally! AND She did it again?!?!

2009-12-07T01:41:00.002-05:00

Let me let you in on a little bit of our private life....

Our house was built in the 40's. It's a charming little 2 bedroom. I adore it. I am in love with our old doors....you know, the kind with the keyhole peephole? Great for little kids to spy on their mom while she uses the bathroom.

I wish I had some skeleton keys for those doors because it would be nice to be able to lock our kids into their room the door. There is no privacy in this house. Do you know what that can do for ummm....you know...ummm....you know, right?

The previous owner wanted to make the house larger, so she did. Literally, by just building this gigantic room onto the back of the house. GIGANTIC 500 square feet of vast openness. This is where our bedroom is and there really isn't any privacy for ummm....you know. It's kind of bad, too, because you can directly see into our trash dump bedroom. I did fix that problem, though, with this genius solution.

I also hate that our kids have to share a bedroom. It's been great, but at night time we have to separate them to break the party up that starts just after bedtime.

Thanks to my AWESOME Dad, he saved the day!

Before

Is he saying, "this is where the magic happens?"

My Dad and Big Snail working hard building Little Snail's bedroom.

AFTER

Look! I can lock my door! And Little Snail has her own room. It was so cute on "moving day" when she moved all of her stuff out of her brother's room. We still have to finish the sheet rock and paint, but I am so excited to have a 3 bedroom house with at least 2 doors that lock! Thank you DAD (and your little helper, too)!

The first thing the Snails did in Little Snail's bedroom was to have a slumber party, get the flash lights, and play Ghost Hunters. I have no idea where they get these crazy ideas! :o)

Well, thank goodness Little Snail has a place for a time out. She is definitely one of "those kids." The kind of kid that public school teachers love to talk about during their lunch break.

Look, she did it again....

remember when she jammed a Q-tip in her ear and perforated her ear drum?

or the time she swallowed a penny?

Clearly the child doesn't learn a lesson. Remember this... The car stuck in her hair?

Well, this morning the little devil she unwrapped the Christmas presents under the tree (there goes the lesson in patience and self-control) and.....

She did it again! This time I had to cut it off. :o( She sure is lucky she is so adorable and precious!

Yes, it's one of those gosh darn Zhu Zhu pets. Thankfully, my dear friend told me about them being harmful and I have a great excuse to get rid of the stupid thing. Unless, I might find myself in Night Owl Mama's situation. Her little Mr. Squiggles heard of a possible recall and ran away.

Time for Momma Snail to lock herself in her room for a little privacy....just me and a Tropical Blizzard.

{Have you entered the contest yet?}

Handmade Holidays 2009!

2009-11-05T18:55:00.002-05:00

We had so much fun with Handmade Halloween, I thought it would be super fun to have a Handmade Holidays Blog Carnival.

What do your blog friends want to see? Anything handmade for Thanksgiving (because this short holiday often gets overshadowed by anything that comes in December), Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, or National Anything Covered in Chocolate Day!

We'd love to see handmade decorations, gifts, learning games and activities for kids, holiday unit studies, family traditions, crafts for kids, and holidays around the world. Basically anything you want to share that is handmade for the holidays!

How do you participate? Just add your post to McLinky. It is best that you add the direct permalink to the list so that we don't have to find your post. If you need to know how to do this, please see directions by clicking here. If your link does not link to an appropriate post, I will delete the link. Sorry about this, but we don't like spam.

You can also add the Handmade Holidays Blog Badge to your blog post or blog. The code is in the sidebar to the left. If you need help using the code, just send me an email. I might add your picture of item to this post (with a link back to you with a citation, of course!). I will send you an email with a request if I do this.

Here are some things I have made in the past:

Little Snail's Christmas Dress '08

This was my first time not using a pattern...(my mom said, "Yeah. You can tell.").

I am proud of my applique and hand embroidery...I designed it to match the fabric.

Little Snail's Thanksgiving Outfit '08

I made this outfit for my sister's bridal shower and Thanksgiving dinner. The pants are from a 70's pattern that my Grandmother used for my handmade clothes. I *heart* this fabric. Here is a secret: the brown solid fabric is a bedsheet. I use $3 bedsheets from WalMart for making clothes! It's soft, durable, and cheap! The top, I think, is a McCall's pattern..I need to hunt it down. This was my first collar and I can't believe it came out right! Now all I need to tackle is zippers....

Handprint & Footprint Tiles

When the Snails were born, the nurses at the hospital told me that they would put the kids hand and foot prints on whatever I wanted. Silk ties, fabric, pillowcases, mugs, whatever. I sent Daddy Snail off to Lowe's and told him to get as many plain white tiles as he could. I preserved the prints with clear lacquer spray paint. For Christmas the year Big Snail was born, Grandparents and Aunt Snail got a footprint tile. I saved mine with visions of retiling the backsplash in the kitchen with handpainted tiles from the kids, including these tiles. My tiles haven't made it to the kitchen, instead they are on plate stands and sit on my mantel.

If your kids aren't newborns, you can get ceramic paint from the craft store and let them paint the tiles.

Personalized Ceramic Ice Bucket

I got the ceramic ice bucket on clearance at Target and cut the vinyl letters with my Cricut. I have the Sure Cuts A Lot software and I used a font that is on my computer. I won't share how much this cost me because the recipient (my BFF) is a reader...but, if I told you, your mouth would drop because of how cheap this gift is! Now that I have a Cricut, I keep my eye out for anything that can be personalized.

As I pull out my Christmas decorations, I will share with you handmade Christmas decorations and crafts from years past.

And here are some of my favorite places to find inspiration for Handmade Holidays:

Sew Momma Sew

One Pretty Thing

Skip to My Lou Handmade Holiday Gift Guide and

Handmade Holidays at Flikr

Roots & Wings 8 Weeks of Heartfelt and Handmade Holidays

Christmas Around the World Unit Study and Lapbook

Learning to Read Strategy: Building Words With Word Families

2009-11-30T21:31:00.004-05:00

When I taught Kindergarten, I taught my students that they could build a lot of words with just a few letters and that they could read all of the words that they wrote. Here is the strategy that I love to use because it organizes the thought process for kids.

Make a vertical alphabet. You can use magnet letters, letter tiles, or write them on a dry erase/chalk board. I do this for The Snails because I don't want them mentally exhausted by the time they have to build the words.

Next, take away the vowels and explain that most words don't start with a vowel. Or you can say that the words you will be using won't start with "these letters," or vowels.

Starting with b, and your chosen word family (we start with -at), begin building words. Move down the alphabet in alphabetical order. You can do it many ways. Your child can write the word family next to each letter (this will help embed it into your child's brain), your child can write the word family to the side and he moves the letter to the word ending, or you can make a word family letter tile and your child moves the beginning letter to the word family (think Between the Lions Gwaynes Wor d or Sesame Street). The most challenging way is for your child to look at a horizontal alphabet and, without manipulating any letters, write as many words he can using a particular word family.

When we get to a "non-sense" word, we say, "that's a non-sense word, but we sure can spell it!"

And here is a hint I always used in my classroom, whenever we did the -uck family, I always either "lost" the f or I covered it up. I usually always had one brainiac who wrote the word on their own. My reply..."it's a non-sense word but we sure can spell it!"

My letter tiles are a set from All About Spelling. You can get them here (don't forget to order the magnets, too!)

Someone asked me what word families to teach. Please see my most famous post ever and a complete list of word families.

Starting Our Christmas Season

2009-11-29T02:17:00.002-05:00

The night before Thanksgiving, we went on our new annual tour of the local Christmas lights venue and visited with Santa Claus.

On Thanksgiving Afternoon, the Snail's decorated the tree while mommy got on the computer and bought some B1G1 Free VTech Motion Games at KMart and the giant KidKraft Savannah Dollhouse for $99.

Bringing out things from Christmas Past brings back such wonderful memories...

handmade by a dear friend in South Korea

I made this in Girl Scouts...it's a plastic ring from a milk jug

a vintage 1950's elf from my Grandmother's tree

this is also from my Grandma's tree....this vintage little ball plugs in and sounds like a large chirping bird

made by my mom in a ceramics class she took on the Army base when I was little

After the Snails were snuggly tucked in bed, I got back online and visited BlackFriday.info, pulled out my ads for price matching at Wal-Mart and made my Black Friday shopping game plan. I have been shopping on Black Friday since I was a teenager and I have successfully done it on my own for 3 years. I left the house at about 12:30 am.

Shopping on your own on Black Friday is really easy to do when you are not afraid to make friends with everyone else who is sitting around you for 4 hours. Two years ago, after standing in line, outside in the freezing cold for 3 hours at Toys R Us, I became "shopping buddies" with a dad who was shopping on his own. He had never done it before and was very overwhelmed. As we stood in line to check out, I talked with his wife on the phone and told her everything he had in his buggy while he ran to the bathroom. She wanted to make sure he got the right things.

This year, WalMart was very different and I was glad that I called ahead at 11pm. They told me on the phone that at 3am, they would hand out tickets for items that were going on sale at 5 am. This was not advertised, but any veteran Black Friday shopper knows to get to any store at least 4 hours before it begins. When I got to WalMart at 1 am, I walked the store and marked my path so that I knew where everything on my list was. I wanted to be able to grab everything on my list as quickly as I could when the sale started because I was alone and couldn't double team on the list. Then, I got out my ads from other stores and placed what was on my list that wasn't in WalMart's Black Friday sale into my buggy. I circled the item on the ad then laid the ad on top of the item in the buggy so that I could check out quickly.

There was much confusion about WalMart's ticket thing. I was told by several people, including the manager that the bikes were a ticket item. I had to stand in line at 3 to get a ticket for a bike. Once I got my ticket, I couldn't get out of line until 5 am, and then at 5 am, I had to directly purchase the ticketed item. After standing in line for about 45 minutes, no employees could find the bike tickets. Finally after much confusion, I was told that the bike I wanted was not a ticket item. So much for wasted time! I found the pallet of bikes and stood by. I was very unthankful when they moved the pallet outside to the lawn and garden center. Ugh! Along with the trampoline and Barbie jeep ticket people, I stood in the freezing cold for 2.5 hours...guarding one of the only 6 20" boys bikes....what I go through for my kids....

I was out of Walmart by 5:30 and at KMart for their 6:00 opening. I was smart and didn't hop in line, I just sat in my toasty car. I snagged Little Snail a pink indoor mini trampoline and was home by 7:30 (we are an hour away from the city)....beating the shopping crowds.

Did you shop this Black Friday? How did you do? Are you getting ready for Hanukkah or Christmas? Are you starting any new traditions this year?

TOS Homeschool Crew Review: Thanks, But No Thanks (Passkeys Foundation)

2009-11-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

As a member of the Homeschool Crew, I was given "Thanks, But No Thanks" from the Passkeys Foundation.

This charming little story book about Thankfulness comes with a CD. While on a recent road trip, I popped the CD in and held up the book and followed along as we listended to the story being read.

My kids love this book and CD! We listened to it about 5-6 times on our one hour trip. The music sounds very much like it was produced at a family friendly theme park...very cute and entertaining. The kids love the story and it has honestly helped them be more thankful. The music is very catchy.

The book is part of a series of books from their Good News Express Series which includes topics about cheerfulness, friendship, thankfulness, and sharing. These books are for children ages 3-5. Older children would find them babyish or cheesy.

The books can be purchased individually for $7.50 or as a group of four books for $20.

If you are a family that is trying to instill values into your children, take a look at the Passkeys Foundation's products. In addition to their Good News Express books for little kids, they also have other sets for ages Character Billders (ages 7-12), Character Classics Activity Books (ages 9-12), and Character Classics (ages 6-10).

You can buy them here.

You can read more reviews here.

{I am a member of The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew. As a member of the Crew, I was given this product to review. I get to keep the product and don't have to return it to the vendor. I was not paid for this post and the opinions in this post are my own. These results are my own and may not be the results you get.}